[velveteer]

Hi guys,

Purchased a Rotel RCD-855 off the 'bay. It's in great condition, but the seller warned me that the Rotel (my first "high end" CD player) wouldn't take kindly to burnt CDs and doesn't like scratches at ALL.

Anyway, I brought her home this evening and four out of the five CDs I popped in all skipped, popped, and clicked throughout. All of the CDs were in excellent or mint shape, and all were retail.

Is my Rotel broken?

FWIW, the seller is a friend of mine and he'd gladly take it back. A shame, because when the Rotel isn't skipping it sounds gorgeous, relaxed and lush!

 

[nick_charles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by velveteer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi guys, Purchased a Rotel RCD-855 off the 'bay. It's in great condition, but the seller warned me that the Rotel (my first "high end" CD player) wouldn't take kindly to burnt CDs and doesn't like scratches at ALL. Anyway, I brought her home this evening and four out of the five CDs I popped in all skipped, popped, and clicked throughout. All of the CDs were in excellent or mint shape, and all were retail. Is my Rotel broken? FWIW, the seller is a friend of mine and he'd gladly take it back. A shame, because when the Rotel isn't skipping it sounds gorgeous, relaxed and lush!

I had one of those 855s. They are pretty ancient , have you removed the transit screws ?

1/5 is not a good hit rate, but you could try cleaning the lens before sending it back.

 

[Pars]

My 855 doesn't have a problem with CD-Rs, nor regular CDs. It will have some problems with dirty CDs, but clean them (nothing special) and no problem. So yes, I would say that yours has a problem.

These use a Philips CDM4/19 laser assembly, which is rather easy to replace, assuming you can find one. There are also some electrolytic caps located under the CD mech which can have an effect if they are drying out... in the range of 33-47uf. I replaced most of these in mine to some effect. Just use a good quality cap such as Panasonic FC or FM. I have a service manual if you would like a copy.